This invention relates to explosion resistant interior space liners capable of mitigating the shock, overpressure, fragmentation and fire effects of an explosion within the interior space without catastrophic structural or critical systems failure to the building, aircraft or vehicle where the liner is installed. The invention particularly relates to aircraft, specifically installation and operation within cargo holds of commercial air transport category aircraft.
Aircraft are considered to be a likely target for terrorists, based on historical events such as the Pan Am Lockerbie incident, 9/11, and other unexplained in-flight disasters that may have been due to terrorist activity. Therefore, it is a major goal of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the US Transportation Safety Authority (TSA) to improve the resistance of aircraft to improvised explosive devices (IED's), particularly explosives placed in checked luggage or cargo, as items placed in the cargo hold are harder to screen than carry-on items.
Wide body aircraft store cargo in containers called Unit Load Devices, (ULD's), which are loaded with cargo and luggage before being placed in the aircraft. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/121,790 which is still pending and 10/942,336 which is now abandoned, by the same inventor address the issue of explosives within ULD's. Smaller aircraft, such as Boeing 737's or regional jets, have open cargo holds where items are placed directly into the hold. To cause an aircraft to become non-airworthy, an explosive device detonated in an aircraft cargo hold has only to puncture the thin aluminum skin or disrupt the sensitive electronic and hydraulic control lines. Even a small explosive detonated in the cargo hold during flight will likely destroy the aircraft. Therefore it is an object of this invention to provide a system that makes the cargo hold of aircraft highly resistant to explosives. The invention also applies to many other enclosed spaces besides aircraft which may require resistance to explosives, so other benefits of the invention will be described accordingly.